The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the USFS, is recruiting Forestry Crew Leads to perform timber sale-preparation, vegetation management and restoration projects in the Sierra Nevada region. These projects all serve the Basin & Range Forestry program’s greater mission of helping the USFS in their critical goal of improving forest resilience in the face of worsening climate conditions and increased wildfire threats. Forestry Crew Lead work will directly improve the quality of these forests helping ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come. 

Crew Leads will support USFS Region 5’s vegetation management and fuels reduction efforts, supporting initiatives for healthy, productive, and resilient forest landscapes and resources. Projects will vary across Forests and Districts, and include but are not limited to fuels reduction initiatives in wildland urban interface (WUI) areas, in and around sensitive habitats for threatened and endangered species, and watershed protection. Crew Leads will receive professional development opportunities and benefit from exposure to USFS processes, procedures, compliance measures and reporting, and technical experience.

Forestry Crew Leads will perform a wide variety of activities to support all stages of project work. Leads will be responsible for crew safety and oversight, including coordination of daily tasks and affiliated project and crew needs, provide or assist in training, communicate daily/weekly with agency staff to plan and assess crew accomplishments, and communicate with GBI staff as needed. Crew size will range between 2-6 people.

A Temporary Special Assignment (TSA) employee is one who is hired for a specific temporary assignment external from the institute’s administrative operations with one of GBI’s partners for 52 weeks or greater or less than 52 weeks and may work full-time (30 or more hours per week) or part-time (less than 30 hours per week).

Essential Job Functions may include the following:

• Timber sale unit boundary delineation and layout (GPSing, flagging, painting);     
• Tree species identification; Green and salvage timber marking and cruising;     
• Timber and biomass plot cruising 
•  Collection of stand examination data; 
•  General silviculture data collection; 
• Identification of various resource concerns including hydrology, heritage, wildlife and recreation

WORK SCHEDULE
This position is seasonal, running from mid-March to mid-November, with start and end dates dependent on project and weather conditions. Forestry crew lead typically work four 10-hour days per week. TSA employees are eligible for holiday pay, subject to partner approval, and will follow the partner’s holiday schedule unless otherwise specified in the employment offer. TSAs working four 10-hour days per week will receive 10 hours of pay for holidays; those working five 8-hour days per week will receive 8 hours of pay for holidays.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
The position offers a competitive wage of $26 per hour, with overtime compensation at 1.5 times the hourly rate. This is a full-time role, averaging 40 hours per week.

In addition to a competitive base salary, the position includes company-paid, comprehensive benefits:

• Medical, dental (with an option for upgraded coverage), and vision insurance
• A $25,000 Life/AD&D policy
• Voluntary short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Optional Life/AD&D coverage for family members
• Mental health support resources
• Generous paid time off (PTO) accrual and paid holidays

Shared housing accommodations are provided for the crew members.

TSA employees who serve a term of less than 52 weeks, with a break of 30 days or fewer, and then sign a subsequent term that, when combined, exceeds 52 weeks of employment, will be eligible for benefits typically provided to full-time employees.

This exciting opportunity contributes to GBI's significant positive impacts in the fields of environmental research, education, and conservation.

REQUIREMENTS/QUALIFICATIONS

• Proficiency in navigation using GPS, topographic map and compass; 
• Experience with cruising and marking techniques; 
• Possess a clean, valid, state-issued driver’s license with the ability to safely operate and maintain a 4WD vehicle on and off paved roads; 
•  Ability to work effectively in a team setting with USFS staff, GBI staff, interns, volunteers, academic, state, and federal partners; 
• Ability to work safely and productively in remote field settings under adverse conditions. This includes occasionally overnight camping in remote areas for consecutive nights; 
• Ability to understand, implement and adhere to established data collection, inventory, assessment, and monitoring protocols; 
• Capacity to collect and maintain field data in an organized manner that is easily understood and accessible to other resource staff;
• Strong organizational skills and ability to work cooperatively as well as independently; 
• Strong communication skills with diverse audiences, both written and oral; and    
• Physically fit to work outdoors, carry up to 50 pounds of personal and/or field equipment, and withstand the rigors of a forested and/or high desert environment in all seasons.
• Experience leading crews in the field, including oversight of crew safety, communication, fidelity to methods and data quality;    
• Familiarity with, and interest in, resource management issues of western states and the ecology of the Sierra Nevada ecoregion;     
• Familiarity with the mixed conifer forests typical of eastern California, including common plants (woody and herbaceous), wildlife, geology and topography; 
• Experience using ArcGIS to create maps; 
• Experience identifying hydrologic concerns, recognizing forest entomology/pathology issues, identifying heritage sites and experience with fire/fuels assessments or related field tasks.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s degree in Forestry (preferred), natural resource management or related field, with coursework AND one year of forestry related field work; OR three years of professional fieldwork experience.